Counsel from the Cross: Connecting Broken People to the Love of Christ

Counsel from the Cross is the next generation text for Christian counselors and the next generation manual for Christian living for believers. This book excels at explaining the connection between the Christian gospel and Christian counseling. Authors Elyse Fitzpatrick and Dennis Johnson state in their preface that they want to lay before their readers the provocative claim that "the cross of Christ and the gospel that proclaim it really are `the power of God for salvation [comprehensive rescue] to everyone who believes' (Rom. 1:16." Their book Counsel from the Cross engagingly demonstrates that in the cross lies the power to liberate hearts and to instill hope. Thankfully, they have the audacity to believe that change can actually happen--because of what Christ has already done. Paul Tripp gets it right in his back-cover recommendation when he says the book is "a triumph of a maturing biblical counseling movement." At times, the modern biblical counseling movement has been good at communicating, "It's horrible to sin," but not always as good at communicating, "It's wonderful to be forgiven." Fitzpatrick and Johnson understand the truth of Romans 5:20 that where sin abounds, grace super-abounds. They understand our guilt before a holy God and our salvation from a loving God. As they beautifully state it, "The cross declares that we are loved with an intensity that defies our capacity to comprehend, not because we are intrinsically lovable but because God is intrinsically love." The authors rightfully claim and artfully present throughout their book that "in the cross of Christ and in the surprising combination of ego-smashing humility and despair-smashing confidence . . . lies the power to set struggling people free." In this, they follow the ancient Puritan arts of loading the conscience with guilt and of lightening the conscience with grace. They follow the principle of historic reconciliation that combines the truths that "it's horrible to sin, and wonderful to be forgiven." Here's the profound truth communicated in Counsel from the Cross. "We believe that when God the Creator provides a cure-all, it really cures all." Fitzpatrick and Johnson are convinced that "this reality is profoundly relevant to the way Christian counselors address the struggles of those who come to them for help." Upon this foundation, the authors send the following invitation to their readers. "So we invite you to join us in a venture of exploration to discover the power to defeat sin and sadness, conflict and bitterness, and self-pity and self-contempt, not by walking beyond the gospel that first brought us into the favor and family of God but rather by moving more deeply into that same gospel." Martin Luther based his ministry of spiritual consolation and spiritual direction upon the truth that "sanctification is the art of getting used to our justification." Fitzpatrick and Johnson similarly believe that the truth of our acceptance before God by Christ's righ

I received this book back in May. It's now November. So I'm ridiculously overdue with this review, but there's a good reason. I really READ this book. I mean, seriously. I picked it up to review it and was in tears by the end of the first chapter. Just then, my husband (a pastor) and I were facing some daunting personalities and conflict at our church, and I went from absolutely discouraged to "I need to read more NOW" in the space of about 5 minutes. The Gospel does that for a person, and the authors do a fabulous job of explaining not just the Gospel OBLIGATIONS, but just as important, the Gospel DECLARATIONS. The former tell us what to do; the latter, which MUST come first, tell us who Christ is, and who we are. The authors write for the counselOR, but address the reader much of the time as a counselEE, which I found eminently helpful. COUNSEL, in the title, can be taken both as a verb and as a noun. Their work does remind the counselor how the Gospel can be applied to every category of "issue" you'll encounter in the counseling room, but it first counsels the counselor, helping the reader apply the Gospel to what they're facing right now. Early on, the authors explain the two sides of the "Gospel-deficient" coin: "Sad moralists" apply the Gospel obligations without any of the declarations. They get trapped in legalism and, eventually, begin to deceive themselves that their obedience gains them favor with God. They see most often how far their practice deviates from the perfection God seeks to build in them, and only end up discouraged and defeated by their sin and pride. On the other side of the coin, "happy moralists" remember many of the Gospel declarations, but don't follow through with the Gospel obligations. They rejoice in who they are in Christ, and think that position is "enough," and that their practice doesn't need to change. These get trapped in license and a lack of understanding of what it cost God to give them that position. As one of my counselees puts it, they "trample on grace." Everyone fits into one of these categories (most of us will swing back and forth according to our individual areas of sinful bent), so the authors spend the rest of the book applying the Gospel to these two extremes in the "big-box" arenas of emotions, relationships, growth in Christ, and life purpose and focus. I picked up COUNSEL FROM THE CROSS to read through it quickly enough to get a sense of it and write a knowledgeable review, and realized I needed to slow waaaaaay down. I needed to let the truth of the Word soak into my spirit, warm me, recharge me, kick me in the pants a few times, and remind me of the goodness and unfailing love of the God I serve. As a Biblical counselor and teacher, I've already been using the material, and look forward to getting this book into the hands of the women I meet with on a regular basis as soon as possible, beginning with going through it (again) with a counselee this winter. I highly, highly recommend that y

At first glance, the title of Elyse Fitzpatrick and Dennis Johnson's book Counsel from the Cross seems to indicate that it is a resource for Christian counselors. And it is that. An excellent one. In fact, as a counselor at our local crisis pregnancy center, I was so excited to read it for review. I anticipated that it would be a great help in my ministry there and I was not disappointed. Yet Counsel from the Cross deserves a wider audience. Its message applies to any believer who seeks to encourage another believer with the glorious truth of the gospel. Not only that, but its message that the power of the cross offers freedom speaks directly to me and my real life. It's a message I need to share; it's also a message I need to hear. Fitzpatrick and Johnson's premise is clear from the beginning: "Whether you are a pastor shepherding a congregation of a hundred or a thousand, a layperson to whom others look for spiritual guidance with personal problems and growth in godliness, or simply a follower of Jesus seeking his grace to persevere in faith and faithfulness in a miserable situation, [we the authors] want to lay before you a provocative claim: the cross of Christ and the gospel that proclaims it really are "the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" (Rom. 1:16)...and in that cross lies the power both to liberate hearts that have been caught in seemingly unbreakable cycles of defeat and to instill hope that change can actually happen..." With chapters covering topics such as "Seeing Your Savior," "God's Immeasurable Love," and "The Gospel and Our Relationships," Counsel from the Cross connects the dots between theology and reality. The gospel, that we are far more sinful and depraved that we can imagine and far more loved and welcomed than we could ever hope or deserve, makes a difference! In fact, one of the most valuable chapters of the book in my opinion is "The Gospel and Our Sanctification," which encourages believers to persevere in the faith by finding joy in God's glorious grace. Counsel from the Cross is a book I will return to again and again not just as a counselor but as a believer who struggles at times to stand firm in the faith. I highly recommend it. This review originally posted at [...]

Amazing! Simple profundity! Gospel truth! This book is all of these things. Counsel From The Cross is a wonderful presentation of the gospel as the answer to all of our needs. The writers are convinced that God's Word has the answer to our problems, and that answer is the good news of Jesus Christ. Too many people seek solace in the latest and greatest medicines. Perhaps they go and attend counseling sessions with someone who is schooled in the philosophies of the world. It is quite likely that said people will find these things lacking. The gospel, however, ministers to the innermost part of humans- the soul. It matters not what our problem may be, worry, fear, anxiety, conflict, anger, pride, lust, etc. the gospel is the answer. The gospel tells us that we are lost without Jesus. That humbles the proud person who believes it. The gospel tells us that we have hope in Jesus. That gives assurance to the despondent. The gospel tells us that God loves us and gave His Son for us that we might be forgiven. This helps us get beyond our past. It also helps us love others. The list goes on and on. What is truly good about this book is the fact that the authors make all of these things "come alive" to the reader. Many chapters give case studies to show how the gospel can be applied to various situations in people's lives. The wonderful thing about this book is that it is timeless. The truths contained within its pages will only be outdated when this world is changed into the perfect world God promises to give us in the future. For this life, this book is practical, helpful, and relevant.

It seems as if there is a "movement", if I can use that word loosely, afoot in the reformed evangelical community. It's a movement squarely based on the doctrines flowing out of the gospel, a movement epitomized by ministries like Redeemer Presbyterian Church (and her Senior Pastor, Tim Keller), The Gospel Coalition, The Resurgence, Acts29 Church Planting Network, and many others. One of the many by-products of a gospel-centered movement has been gospel-centered books. And this is one of them -- perhaps one of the best produced thus far. It's ostensibly a biblical counseling work. And it is that, and so much more. In short, it's a gospel-oriented take on what counseling should be if one was to have the gospel directly under-girding and being applied to a person's broken life/heart. What this book does is tear the mask off of Christian counseling that applies various sanctification strategies in order to deal with sin w/o necessarily "exploiting" the objective realities and benefits of the gospel of Christ. It shows the reader why those strategies fail and why the gospel is the only real panacea to every soul-sickness. It has a realistic take on our broken world, the heinousness of sin, the self-deception web that our hearts spin over themselves, and most wonderfully, the idol-destroying and hope-renewing power of the gospel. Fitzpatrick and Johnson connect the dots from gospel-doctrine to gospel-change. Through dismantling powerless legalistic sanctification methods and proffering, in crystal-clear terminology, specifically how doctrines like justification, resurrection, incarnation (etc.) CAN & DO break the cycle of sin-repentance-good works-sin. The authors show how we can so often, in fighting sin and putting on holiness, bypass Christ and let the gospel become white noise. Awesome book b/c it's so challenging (to all my old notions of what it means to put off and put on) and so convicting. Take your time w/ it. The authors wisely shepherd our hearts by reminding us that faith & fruit (gospel-life) takes time. There is no simple or direct equation that churns out godliness. It takes time for faith to mature and fruit to be borne. And the Spirit goes wherever He decides to go. I think that such sober counsel goes a long way to ensure not only that the book will be taken seriously but also taken as just a resource that points the way to THE Resource: Jesus Christ and His life, death, and resurrection. I'm thankful for the humility of the authors. JP